Elizabeth Shannon

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Introduction

Michel Varisco is a contemporary photographer and installation artist who exhibits and publishes in the US and abroad. She is represented by Octavia Gallery, 454 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130, and her website is www.michelvarisco.com

Full Explanation

Michel Varisco is an American artist residing in New Orleans, Louisiana. Varisco's photographs, assemblages and site-specific installations explore loss and regeneration. Recent work depicts late-Louisiana in its accelerated shift towards the Gulf of Mexico. The photographs are pointers to the complex relationship between the natural and engineered environment carved out of a delicate delta system. Varisco writes: “I believe humans have the capacity to restore some of what seems permanently lost should our imaginations and ingenuity be so inspired. It’s also my hope that we analyze the interconnectedness of these systems and their rapid degradation, as they face Louisiana, the United States and other lands and waters around the world.

Varisco's work is exhibited in galleries and museums in the US and abroad such as: The Ogden Museum, National MS River Museum and Acquarium, Cotton Museum, Lower MS River Museum, El Paso Museum of Art, Francis McCray Gallery of Contemporary Art, the Huntington Museum of Art, Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, Armory Center for the Arts, Gallery 1646, Den Hague, (Netherlands), Space 301, Mobile Museum of Art, SohoPhoto Gallery,The New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center,the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Varisco's work has been featured in publications such as Adbusters, Forecast Public Art, Believer Magazine, The Oxford American Magazine, Mister Motley Arts Magazine, (Netherlands),Work Style Magazine, (Switzerland), Metropolis M, (The Netherlands), Louisiana Cultural Vistas Magazine, Metro,(New Zealand). Monographs include:Shifting -Photographs by Michel Varisco with contributing essays by Anne Gisleson and Bradley Sumrall (A and I Books),Hotel Ortolan text by Tom Whalen, photographs by Michel Varisco, Black Scat Books, London.She is represented by Octavia Gallery in New Orleans, LACDA in Los Angeles and Richter Gallery of photography in Nashville, TN. Support for her work has included grants and commissions by the SURDNA Foundation of New York, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, The Louisiana Division of the Arts, Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation, Historic Restorations Inc, in addition to private patronage.